India, Jan. 14 -- The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on Tuesday reduced the qualifying percentile to zero for candidates in reserved categories, enabling even those who scored as low as minus 40 marks out of 800 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate), or NEET-PG 2025, to participate in the third round of the ongoing counselling process for postgraduate medical admissions. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from sections of the medical fraternity, who argue it reflects a worrying decline in academic standards in medical education.

The NBEMS, which conducts examinations for admission to postgraduate and super-speciality medical courses, announced in a notice dated January 13 that it had...